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G.I. Bill
A law that provided a range of benefits for returning veterans of WWII. -
Atomic Bomb
Atomic bombs were on the up rise during WWII, The United States successfully tested their first bomb that was dropped in the desert in New Mexico. -
Hiroshima
Hiroshima, Japan was the first to ever be atomic bombed. The USA dropped this first bomb called "Little Boy" on the Japanese city after the country refused to surrender during WWII. -
Nagasaki
This was the second Japanese city that was bombed after Japan refused to surrender again, but after the bomb was dropped they finally surrendered and the United States won the war. -
Period: to
The Cold War
The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states) and powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others). -
Marshall Plan
American initiative to aid Western Europe following the damages of World War Two. Over $13 Billion given to the Western Europe countries in economic support. -
Berlin Airlift
At the end of the Second World War, U.S., British, and Soviet military forces divided and occupied Germany. Also divided into occupation zones, Berlin was located far inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. The Russians wanted to movement within their division so they blockaded roads and borders. The U.S. out of their own good decided to drop 2.3 million tons of supplies for the civilians stuck within. -
Period: to
Berlin Airlift
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Beat Generation
The Beat Generation is a literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized throughout the 1950s. -
Period: to
1950s
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Fair Deal
It was what Truman termed his domestic program during his second term, mainly building on existing programs and trying to extend the New Deal. Some things that came in effect were Extension of Social Security coverage, Increase in minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents/hr. -
Hydrogen Bomb
Employs the fusion of isotopes of hydrogen's. The first full scale thermonuclear test was carried out by the United States in 1952 -
Polio Vaccine
Dr. Jonas Salk, the inventor of the Polio Vaccine that prevented the deaths of thousands. Before the vaccine America was forced to live in fear of the infectious viral disease that put Franklin Roosevelt in a wheelchair. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
14th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1953. The landmark case of his tenure was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), in which the Court unanimously determined the segregation of schools to be unconstitutional. -
Brown v. Board of Education
A United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. -
Period: to
Civil Rights
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Rock N' Roll
New genre of music evolved from jazz, blues, gospel and country music by African Americans. Rock N' Roll influenced daily life, style, entertainment, and attitude. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks rode at the front of a Montgomery, Alabama, bus on the day the Supreme Court's ban on segregation of the city's buses took effect. A year earlier, she had been arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus. She is now known as the First Lady of Civil Rights and mother of Freedom rights movement. -
Eisenhower Interstate System
The Eisenhower Interstate System was a system of highways, roads, and tall underpasses for quick evacuation in the state of an emergency. -
Little Richard
An influential figure in popular music and culture for more than six decades, Little Richard's most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his dynamic music and charismatic showmanship laid the foundation for rock and roll. His music also played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk. -
Elvis Presley
Elvis was one of the "pioneers" of the new style of music, Rock N' Roll. He was Rock N' Rolls first real super star. Elvis is one of the most important cultural forces in history, a hip-shaking symbol of liberation for the staid America of the 1950s. Elvis died at the age of 42 after a overdose of prescription medicine that caused his heart to stop. -
Ike Turner
Ike Turner. Izear Luster "Ike" Turner, Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. One of the "pioneers" of Rock n' Roll. -
Television
In the 1950s television had improved their black and white settings and also started to have more colored programs. Also to television started to influenced public opinions. -
Little Rock 9
In Little Rock, nine courageous black students dared to challenge racial segregation in American public schools by enrolling at the all-white Central High School, and the “Little Rock Nine” became an integral part of the fight for change and a foundation for equal opportunity in America. -
Sputnik
First satellite launched into space by the Russians that went around the globe just making a beeping sounds. This sparked the Space Race between the USA and USSR. -
Politics (Nixon, Kennedy)
The Nixon Vs. Kennedy was the first televised presidential debate. Due to Americans being able to see the candidates live, they favored John F. Kennedy to be their president. JFK had a more young and positive image while Nixon image was old and scraggy. -
Period: to
1960s
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Sit-Ins
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. For example African Americans went to segregated restaurants and sat in the white area where they asked to be serve politely. Restaurant owners and customers were not happy with this, they verbally and physically abused the African Americans, but they kept their composure. -
New Frontier
The term New Frontier was used by liberal Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in the 1960 United States presidential election to the Democratic National Convention at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the Democratic slogan to inspire America to support him. -
Peace Corps
President JFK proposed to the University of Michigan to help the countries around the world in need in financially, educationally, and physically. -
Freedom Rides
A group of 13 African-American and white civil rights activists launched the Freedom Rides, a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals. -
Naval Quarantine
This happened during the Cold War, tension was building between the Soviet Union and the United States involving a possible nuclear war. Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a secret agreement with Cuban premier Fidel Castro to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt. Then the U.S. founded out about the missiles and issued a blockade from the missiles leaving the area. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m in Dallas, Texas while riding in a motorcade in Dealey Plaza. Lee Harvey Oswald was blamed for the assassination. Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of becoming the president of the United States after the death of JFK. -
Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald (JFK Assassin) while being transported from the city jail to the county jail. -
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The main goal was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. $1 billion ($5 billion today) was put in to help with poverty. -
Counter Culture
Many college‐age men and women became political activists and were the driving force behind the civil rights and antiwar movements. Other young people simply “dropped out” and separated themselves from mainstream culture through their appearance and lifestyle. Attitudes toward sexuality appeared to loosen, and women began to openly protest the traditional roles of housewife and mother that society had assigned to them. -
Warren Commision
A commission created following the assassination of President JFK to investigate the tragedy. Led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded that alleged gunman Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating America’s 35th president, and that there was no conspiracy, either domestic or international, involved. -
Barry Goldwater
Was an American politician and businessman who was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 1964 election. Despite losing the election by a landslide, Goldwater is the politician most often credited for sparking the resurgence of the American conservative political movement in the 1960s. He also had a substantial impact on the libertarian movement. -
Ascendancy of Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson became the 36th president of the United States following the November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Upon taking office, Johnson, a Texan who had served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. -
Malcolm X
African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. Was convinced that white people don't want black people to receive any type of advantage economically or politically. He wanted to create a nation within America that was for black people only and wanted no help from white people, but later on he let white people help him. -
Selma March
Martin Luther King Junior led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators on a 54 mile, 3 day march to the capital of Alabama. The historic march, and King’s participation in it, greatly helped raise awareness of the difficulty faced by black voters in the South, and the need for a Voting Rights Act, passed later that year. -
Voting Rights Acts of 1965
An act aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States. Signed by President Lyndon Johnson. -
Feminism
Focused on dismantling workplace inequality, such as denial of access to better jobs and salary inequity, via anti-discrimination laws. The different wings of the feminist movement sought women's equality on both a political and personal level. -
Death of MLK
MLK was fatally shot in a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. The assassination led to an outpouring of anger among black Americans, as well as a period of national mourning that helped speed the way for an equal housing bill that would be the last significant legislative achievement of the civil rights era. -
Chicano Mural Movements
Murals painted to influence whites about Hispanic culture. Mexican-American barrios throughout the Southwest. Artists began using the walls of city buildings, housing projects, schools, and churches to depict Mexican-American culture. -
Apollo 11
First lunar landing mission with a crew of three astronauts, Mission commander Neil A. Armstrong, Command Module pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module pilot Edwin “Buzz” E. Aldrin, Jr. The first human beings on the moon. -
Period: to
1970s
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
EPA was created for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.[2] President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA and it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. -
Equal Rights Amendment
This is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender; it seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. -
Heritage Foundation
American conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership. -
Stagflation
Stagflation is a economic problem defined in equal parts by its rarity and by the lack of consensus among academics on how exactly it comes to pass. -
Endangered Species Act
This act provides for the conservation of species that are endangered or threatened throughout all or a significant portion of their range, and the conservation of the ecosystems on which they depend. -
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
A sixth member of the bipartisan agency created by the Federal Election Campaign act of 1974. The FEC administers and enforces campaign finance laws. -
Panama Canal
The second, called The Panama Canal Treaty, stated that the Panama Canal Zone would cease to exist on October 1, 1979, and the Canal itself would be turned over to the Panamanians on December 31, 1999. These two treaties were signed on September 7, 1977. -
The Moral Majority
This was a prominent American political organization associated with the Christian right and Republican Party. It was founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell and associates, and dissolved in the late 1980s. -
Camp David Accords
The first in a series of peace attempts by the United States between an Arab nation and Israel. This was seen as one of the great accomplishments by the Carter Administration. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
A group of Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 American hostages. The immediate cause of this action was President Jimmy Carter’s decision to allow Iran’s deposed Shah. The students set their hostages free on January 21, 1981, 444 days after the crisis began and just hours after President Ronald Reagan delivered his inaugural address. Many historians believe that hostage crisis cost Jimmy Carter a second term as president. -
Period: to
1980s
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Robert Johnson
First African American billionaire, founder of BET (Black Entertainment Television). -
A.I.D.S. Crisis
First AIDS cases were reported in the United States in June 1981, the number of cases and deaths among persons with AIDS increased rapidly during the 1980s followed by substantial declines in new cases and deaths in the late 1990s. A.I.D.S. originated in Africa. -
Election of 1980
The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent. -
Space Shuttle Program
The Space Shuttle program, officially called the Space Transportation System, was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972 -
Reagonomics
The economic policies of the former US president Ronald Reagan, associated especially with the reduction of taxes and the promotion of unrestricted free-market activity. -
MTV
MTV (Music television) Displayed music videos and MTV's main target demographic was young adults, but today it is primarily towards teenagers, particularly high school and college students. -
Sam Walton’s Just-in-Time Inventory
Sam Walton creator of Walmart, came up with the idea of having more inventory ready right when it is about to run out. -
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) “Star Wars”
The intent of this program was to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union. With the tension of the Cold War looming overhead, the Strategic Defense Initiative was the United States’ response to possible nuclear attacks from afar. -
Iran Contra Affair
The Iran–Contra affair, also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or the Iran–Contra scandal, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor is a retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from her appointment in 1981 by Ronald Reagan until her retirement in 2006. She was the first women to be appointed to the supreme court. -
Challenger Explosion
The American shuttle orbiter Challenger broke up 73 seconds after liftoff, bringing a devastating end to the spacecraft’s 10th mission. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
as the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin’s Communist Party announced a change in his city’s relations with the West. Starting at midnight that day, he said, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country’s borders. When crossing everyone was celebrating and drinking champagne. -
Period: to
1990s
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Persian Gulf War/1st Iraq War
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighboring Kuwait in early August 1990. Alarmed by these actions, fellow Arab powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the United States and other Western nations to intervene. Hussein defied United Nations Security Council demands to withdraw from Kuwait by mid-January 1991, and the Persian Gulf War began with a massive U.S.-led air offensive known as Operation Desert Storm. -
Rodney King Incident
Rodney King, whose beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 was caught on camera and sparked riots after the acquittal of the four officers involved. -
Internet
While internet was created in 1983 it wasn't revolutionized since the early 1990s when it was launched into the public by Timothy John Berners-Lee created the World Wide web as we know it today. -
Welfare Reform
Was considered to be a major welfare reform. President Bill Clinton signed PRWORA into law on August 22, 1996, fulfilling his 1992 campaign promise to "end welfare as we have come to know it". -
Election of 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992 between Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ross Perot. -
World Trade Center Attack 1993
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, carried out on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. -
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
The North American Free Trade Agreement is an agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It establishes a mostly barrier-free relationship between the three nations. In recent years, it has been problematic due to unfair trade advantages each nation has. -
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey, is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist.[1] She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011 in Chicago, Illinois First African American Women who is a billionaire. -
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
Prior to being ruled unconstitutional, defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. -
Monica Lewinsky Scandal
The Monica Lewinsky Scandal disrupted the success of President Bill Clinton. -
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was also the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. -
Period: to
Contemporary
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9/11 Attacks
The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. -
Patriot Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. With its ten-letter abbreviation (USA PATRIOT) expanded, the full title is "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001". -
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act authorizes several federal education programs that are administered by the states. The law is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Under the 2002 law, states are required to test students in reading and math in grades 3–8 and once in high school. -
2nd Iraq War
An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict. It became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003,[55] with the U.S., joined by the United Kingdom and several coalition allies, launching a "shock and awe" bombing campaign. Iraqi forces were quickly overwhelmed as U.S. forces swept through the country. -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
The storm surge also devastated the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, making Katrina the most destructive and costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States, and the deadliest hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. The total damage from Katrina is estimated at $108 billion (2005 U.S. dollars). -
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He is the first African American to have served as president, as well as the first born outside the contiguous United States. -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub.L. 111–5), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. -
First Hispanic SCOTUS judge - Sonya Sotomayor
First Latina Supreme Court Justice. On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Sotomayor for Supreme Court Justice. The nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in August 2009 by a vote of 68 to 31, making Sotomayor the first Latina Supreme Court Justice in U.S. history. -
Affordable Care Act (ACA) “Obamacare”
Make affordable health insurance available to more people. The law provides consumers with subsidies (“premium tax credits”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level. Expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults with income below 138% of the federal poverty level. (Not all states have expanded their Medicaid programs.) Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally. Designed by Obama. -
Started DCUSH with Mr. Godfrey
Many obstacles I had to jump through in this course, but I made it to the end... Thank you for everything Mr. Godfrey!
